


gingerbread blues

by asiannoodles



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Christmas Cookies, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Holidays, M/M, Romance, Super Light Angst, hyungwon gets kind of insecure, hyunwoo is the sweetest boyfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-12 12:19:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12959049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asiannoodles/pseuds/asiannoodles
Summary: Kihyun always said that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. The phrase rings pretty true. It just doesn't help that Hyungwon is an absolute disaster in the kitchen.





	gingerbread blues

“Babe, hurry up! We’re going to be late!”

Hyunwoo looked at his phone, checking the time as he waited by the door for his boyfriend. If Hyungwon didn't hurry, they were going to be late. But Hyungwon enjoyed being fashionably late sometimes and Hyunwoo didn't have the heart to ever stop him.

"Coming!" Hyungwon called back from their bedroom.

Hyunwoo probably counted three more minutes before Hyungwon was actually walking out, looking primly dressed and clean shaven. He was late but Hyunwoo just sighed with a smile. "Wow, you're almost on time," he joked.

Hyungwon rolled his eyes playfully before spinning around slowly once. "How do I look though? Good?"

Hyunwoo grinned at him. "You look great, babe,” he said as he pulled Hyungwon in for a kiss. “Worth the whole two hours.”

“Right?” Hyungwon asked with a cheeky smile. He stroked the top of his brushed back hair and smiled proudly. “I look wonderful.”

Hyunwoo nodded and opened the front door, saying, “Yes, you do. Now let’s get going before we’re later than we already are.”

“Right, right-- Oh, wait! Can’t forget the champagne,” Hyungwon said, running back to their kitchen to grab a bottle before coming back. He smiled triumphantly. “Gotta bring the drinks.”

Hyunwoo laughed at him before draping a jacket around Hyungwon’s shoulders, making sure he was warm and toasty before both heading out into the snow. The air outside was frigid, kissing their faces painfully pink as they rushed to their car. It was snowing at the moment and they were grateful for escaping the cold, even if only in their car.

  
  
  
  
  


Hyungwon had known Kihyun and Hoseok for years. They went to high school together and he was friends with Hoseok before he and Kihyun had started dating. (Although he might have taken a bigger liking to Kihyun after Hoseok had properly introduced them. And they might have gotten closer than ever also.)

It was a yearly tradition that the two couples would get together to catch up and celebrate the holidays. Especially ever since getting busier planning their wedding, there wasn't much time to visit. Hyungwon always appreciated these small get togethers a lot.

"There they are, later than ever!" Hoseok joked jovially when he opened the door for the two of them.

Hyunwoo grinned as he shook snow off his boots and came in, making sure to help Hyungwon take off his jacket before taking off his own. "Well, you can blame this guy for getting ready for two hours."

Hyungwon smacked him and rolled his eyes. "Sorry for trying to look decent."

Hoseok smiled at them and took their jackets. "You don't need to dress up, Hyungwon, it's just us! And we're at home, not like we're at a restaurant."

"You plebeians don't treasure the value of fashion enough. Not even you, Hoseok," he sniffed.

"Can't blame me if my fashion sense has dropped since Kihyun and I started dating." He leaned in to whisper, "Between you and me, I think he makes me dress in ugly sweaters on purpose sometimes. Because he knows I'm so much handsomer--"

"I heard that!"

Kihyun came strutting out of the kitchen then, dressed in a turtleneck with an festive apron draped around his front. He grinned brightly as he pulled Hyungwon and Hyunwoo in for hugs.

"Hey!" Hyungwon said with bright sparkling eyes. "Sorry we came so late!"

Kihyun kissed his cheek warmly and replied, "Don't worry about it, we would have waited up for you two anyways." He turned to Hoseok with a playful sneer and snapped, "And excuse you sir, the reason I have you wear those sweaters is  _ not  _ because I think you are handsomer than me because you're  _ not." _

Hoseok shrugged. "Whatever you say," he sang.

Kihyun rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Hyungwon. "Oh!" his eyes lit up. "You brought the champagne. Here, you can come with me to the kitchen and we can put it in ice."

Hyungwon was happy to follow him, the two of them leaving their boyfriends behind to talk about whatever new gym routine they were trying out now.

Hyungwon loved Kihyun's kitchen because it always smelled like home whenever he was there. It didn't matter what time of year or what time of day -- Kihyun's kitchen was always cozy when he visited. And now was definitely no exception as Hyungwon sniffed the air, the smell of cinnamon, chocolate and peppermint filling his nostrils all at once.

"Are you making cookies?" he asked as Kihyun went to fill up a bucket of ice for the champagne.

Kihyun nodded. "Mm-hm! I felt like baking today and you two were coming over so I thought -- this was a perfect time! And because Hoseok has been begging for cookies since last week."

"Really?" Hyungwon asked as he leaned on the counter. "Why's that?"

"Oh, nothing, he's just being a baby," Kihyun chuckled. "Said he couldn't get into the holiday spirit without my baking."

Hyungwon faked a gag. "I don't remember him being that way at all in high school. He used to be so  _ 'bah humbug'  _ about the whole holiday season." He smiled warmly. "But I think he changed a lot after he met you."

Kihyun smiled so brightly, Hyungwon was sure he lit up the room. For a second, he could really see how much he loved Hoseok in his smile. "Yeah," he murmured softly as he placed the bucket of ice on the counter. "Have I ever...? Told you about when I started baking for him?"

Hyungwon tilted his head. "No, I don't think you have."

"Hoseok never told you either?"

"No, he hasn't. I just know one day he came to me and wouldn't stop talking about you."

Kihyun laughed and his cheeks turned pink. "That sounds like him. But we met because of my baking, you know. I made cookies for my professor as a holiday gift for one of the classes he TA'ed in and..." Kihyun shrugged. "I guess everything worked out from there."

Hyungwon smiled coyly and said, "You know, I do quite remember the one semester when he suddenly felt the need for holiday spirit. Maybe it was your cookies."

"Well, he did say they taste like Christmas," Kihyun laughed. "And if I don't make them, he won't get into the mood. It's honestly the silliest thing. But you know what they say! The quickest way to a man's heart is through their stomach."

"That's so cute," Hyungwon laughed. "You guys are such a great couple, really."

"The cookies have become a tradition now!" Kihyun added giddily. "And don't tell Hoseok, but I've secretly tweaked my baking so that he likes it more. He'll never leave me that way," he joked. "What about you?" he asked. "Do you ever bake things for Hyunwoo?"

"Oh, no," Hyungwon laughed. "God, no. You know how much of a disaster I am in the kitchen. The three years we've been dating, I don't think Hyunwoo knows what a tragedy I am."

"Really?" Kihyun asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "Hyunwoo loves baked goods."

Hyungwon blinked. "He... He does?"

"Yeah! Hoseok tells me they go out for snacks after they work out and Hyunwoo always buys cookies or a muffin or something."

"Oh," Hyungwon hummed. "I didn't know that."

"I'm surprised you'd never tried baking for him before," Kihyun said. He tilted his head to look at Hyungwon curiously. "I mean, I know it sounds so cliche but everyone loves a boyfriend that can bake. Especially during the holidays. It makes everything infinitely cozier."

"Yeah... that's true," he mused. "I don't think whether or not I can bake would really matter to Hyunwoo though. He says Christmas always feels special with each other no matter what."

Kihyun raised an eyebrow as he leaned over the counter. "That's what they all say," he teased. "But I'll tell you what -- when Hoseok found out I could bake, he really loved it. All he ever does is brag about it to his friends and show up with my cookies to all his office parties."

"Really?" Hyungwon blinked. "That's... cute."

Kihyun nodded, his eyes brightening. "Yeah. It makes me feels nice," he said, blushing. "I love seeing that look in his eyes when I bake for him. It's one of my favorite part of the holidays, if not favorite part of our lives in general." He winked.

Hyungwon grinned. "That's really cute, actually." Then he shrugged, raking a hand through his hair. "I don't think baking is something that special to Hyunwoo."

"Do you ever do anything for him?" Kihyun asked. The sound of a timer went off on his phone and he went to put on oven gloves, bending over to pull a fresh batch of cookies out of the oven. He looked over his shoulder as he placed them on the rack and said, "Like, do you ever do anything specifically to see his eyes light up?"

Hyungwon tilted his head, suddenly at a loss for words. He wasn't quite sure what Kihyun meant by that. The only time he remembered Hyunwoo's eyes lighting up was at the beginning of their relationship when he would surprise Hyunwoo after his lectures. He and Hyunwoo always did things for each other and Hyungwon just figured it was normal at their stage in a relationship to be comfortable.

But when he really thought about it, maybe he hadn't seen Hyunwoo's eyes light up in a while.

"Uh, not really?" he answered after a moment. "I mean, we always go out of our way to do little things for each other but--"

"So you guys don't have like a tradition or anything?" Kihyun asked. "Anything you look forward to during the holidays as a couple? I know cookies is really lame and small," he chuckled, "but it's something Hoseok and I always look forward to."

Hyungwon figured it was just that honeymoon feeling of love that Kihyun and Hoseok were going through again, since they were newly engaged. Hoseok's eyes lighting up was probably something only Kihyun could see. "Not specifically," Hyungwon said. "We just spend the holidays together, which is special enough."

Kihyun grinned at him as he turned off the oven and unwrapped his apron from around him. "Well, don't worry -- I'm sure you and Hyunwoo will figure out what your special holiday thing is eventually. And it'll make all your holidays super special."

Hyungwon smiled at him. Surely, Kihyun was exaggerating -- he was just glowing from that post engagement bliss. "Yeah, I'm sure we will," he replied.

Hoseok and Hyunwoo came walking into the kitchen then, their faces bright with grins as Hoseok exclaimed, "I heard the cookies come out of the oven!"

Kihyun laughed as he came over to peck him on the mouth. "Don't you always," he teased. "It's like you have a nose just for smelling them come out of the oven."

Hoseok kissed him loudly on the cheek and sang, "Well, what would the holidays be without your cookies? I would be able to smell them from miles away."

Hyungwon blinked then. Because he realized Kihyun might not have been exaggerating. He could see it. He could see the way Hoseok's eyes light up at the mention of Kihyun's baking.

"Let me get the ones that I already decorated instead of the ones that just came out of the oven."

Hoseok said, "Oh! Let me open the champagne you guys brought."

Hyungwon stood by Hyunwoo's side, smoothing out the wrinkles in his sweater and kissing him on the cheek as Hoseok brought out glasses. "You good, babe?"

"Of course." Hyunwoo smiled at him fondly, leaning over to leave a short kiss on his lips. "Never better."

Hyungwon felt his heart swell at his smile. Maybe this was his special thing with Hyunwoo -- just smiling at each other. Surely that look in Hyunwoo's eyes was the same one Kihyun saw in Hoseok. It had to be.

"So," Hoseok said as he began pouring the champagne into the crystal flutes, "what are you two planning to do this Christmas? Going anywhere?"

Hyungwon shook his head as he leaned onto Hyunwoo's shoulder. "Nope, no plans to go anywhere. Hyunwoo's sister is hosting their family party though, so there's that."

Hyunwoo nodded. "Yeah, we've got some distant relatives coming over. I'm really excited for Hyungwon to meet my nephews."

"Please, it's not that exciting," Hyungwon snickered.

"What? Babe, I'm  _ so  _ excited, they're going to  _ love  _ you," Hyunwoo told him.

Hyungwon laughed in return and then told Hoseok, "You know, last year we took a trip and spent the holidays with my family, right?"

"Oh yeah, I remember that!" Hoseok said, handing them champagne. "You guys took a train and spent a week there, right?"

"Yeah!" Hyungwon nodded. "My nieces and nephews absolutely love Hyunwoo. It was so cute to see them all get along." He turned to Hyunwoo and kissed him. "I loved it when you played video games with them."

Hyunwoo laughed. "Yeah, I could see your eyes lighting up from the other room," he joked.

"That's adorable," Kihyun sang, bringing a plate of warm cookies to the counter. He smacked Hoseok playfully and said, "How come we never take a trip to visit your family?"

Hoseok snickered. "Because my mom's oven is broken and there's no way I'd let you go without making sure there was an oven for you to bake cookies. By the way, which ones did you make?"

Kihyun beamed proudly at his plate of perfect looking cookies. They were iced a royal blue with white decorations on the edges along with white frosted images of snowmen and snowflakes. "These are gingerbread cookies!" he said proudly. "I tried out a new recipe this year, so you guys are the first ones to test it out."

Hyungwon gasped at the beautifully decorated cookies, reaching out to pick one up. "Wow, Kihyun these are so gorgeous!"

Hyunwoo nodded. "They look amazing."

Hoseok pulled Kihyun close by the waist, leaning their heads together as he said, "I watched him work on those this morning. He's really proud of them and so am I."

"You didn't even help," Kihyun snorted.

"But watching you must help something."

Hyunwoo laughed as he bit into the cookie. In that moment, his eyes positively lit up as he turned to Hyungwon excitedly and said, "Babe! Babe, try it right now, it's so good!"

And under normal circumstances, Hyungwon would have immediately gone to eat it and share Hyunwoo's excitement but he paused. When Hyunwoo at the cookie, there was something that lit up in his eyes that made them sparkle and shine in a way that Hyungwon had never  _ seen  _ before. At least, until now.   
Then suddenly he realized that this must have been what Kihyun was talking about. This was the light in Hoseok's eyes when he saw Kihyun's baking. And now that light was most definitely in Hyunwoo's eyes and Hyungwon felt something stir inside of him because  _ huh. _ Hyunwoo's eyes had never really lit up like that before.

Hyungwon thought he was imagining it maybe until he took a bite of the cookie himself and it might have been the greatest cookie he ever had. It was gingerbread but it tasted like Christmas and everything warm started blooming inside his chest.

"I don't get it," Hyunwoo murmured between his mouth full of cookie. "You bake just like my mom does -- no,  _ better  _ than my mom. Kihyun, your cookies make it feel like Christmas when I smell them."

Hoseok hugged Kihyun close to him warmly. "That's right -- Christmas isn't Christmas without Kihyun."

Hyunwoo laughed loudly, his chest vibrating against Hyungwon's side as he said, "Yeah, I can see why. Gingerbread is my favorite!”

Hyungwon hummed to himself as he sipped some more champagne.

  
  
  
  
  


"Do you think that's true?"

_ "What's true?" _

"That the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach?"

Hyungwon could imagine Minhyuk's eyebrows furrowing as he replied, _ "Why? Do you think Hyunwoo is going to leave you because he loved Kihyun's cookies?" _

"No!" Hyungwon hissed. "He would never do that! It's just... I don't know, I've never seen his face like that before. His eyes sparkled."

_ "Don't they sparkle when he's around you?" _

Hyungwon paused, sitting down on his sofa and grabbing a throw pillow to hug. "I don't know," he muttered.

_ "Hyungwon, I'm sure they do." _

"I know, Minhyuk, it's just... I don't know!" he exclaimed as he flopped down. "Whenever I look at Kihyun baking and Hoseok going over to hug him it's the sweetest thing I ever see. The way Hoseok's eyes light up when he looks at him? I saw that in Hyunwoo's eyes. And I don't know... I want to be able to make them sparkle like that too."

Minhyuk sighed through the receiver and Hyungwon could already see the judgement in his eyes even though he wasn't there. _ "Well, what do you want to do?" _

"I just want to be a domestic boyfriend that he can brag about to his friends also. And you know, offer him things that will make his eyes sparkle."

_ "You are going to achieve that, how...?" _

Hyungwon sat up quickly. "Well, I have been watching baking tutorials on YouTube for the past day."

_ "Hyungwon, no--" _

"Come on Minhyuk! Just think about it. Hyunwoo's eyes sparkled like  _ stars  _ when he had those cookies. If I try to make some for him... he'd light up the same way, right?"

_ "Well... I suppose giving it a try wouldn't hurt?"  _ Minhyuk said after a long pause.  _ "But Hyungwon, you know you're an absolute disaster in the kitchen, right?" _

Hyungwon stood up from the couch, stalking over to his kitchen. "I'm not that bad."

_ "...Remember that time you made salmon and it stuck to the pan?" _

"Minhyuk--"

_ "And you broke the handle off while you were trying to remove the salmon from the pan?" _

"Okay, when you--"

_ "And then Hyunwoo had to buy a new pan for you because you somehow ended up mangling it beyond recognition." _

"Please stop making me remember this," Hyungwon groaned as he leaned onto the counter of his kitchen. The room suddenly seemed daunting all over again for no good reason. "But that was one time! And it was because I was working with fish!"

_ "And that time you rested your plastic spatula on your hot pan and it melted?" _

"Minhyuk, you're really not helping my confidence here."

Minhyuk snorted over the line, laughing out, _ "Sorry, sorry. I just don't think that you need to bake in order to impress Hyunwoo." _

"I'm not trying to impress him!" Hyungwon exclaimed, kneeling down to open some cupboards under the counter. He pulled out a big silver bowl and plopped it down onto the counter. "I just want to do something special for him. So that it feels, I don't know, more festive?"

_ "You want him to brag about your baking skills, don't you?" _

"Well, yes but--!"

_ "Hyungwon, let's be honest -- ever since you saw Hyunwoo eat those cookies, you've been feeling like you're not good enough, haven't you?" _

"That's not--"

_ "Because I know what you mean, I see Kihyun and Hoseok together and I think to myself  _ 'wow, they're the perfect couple'  _ and Kihyun is kind of the most perfect domestic boyfriend ever who bakes the most perfect cookies--" _

"You're really not helping me out here."

_ "--but Hyunwoo will never prefer Kihyun over you because of his cookies." _

"That's not really what I was worried about," Hyungwon murmured as he searched his pantry for ingredients. "But I mean, what you said earlier was right. It wouldn't hurt to try, right? And Hyunwoo loves gingerbread cookies."

_ "He does?" _

"Yeah, Kihyun told me."

_ "Oh--" _

"And I would think that coming home to freshly baked cookies is a nice surprise. We're going to decorate the tree we bought today so having cookies to snack on will be good idea anyways," Hyungwon said as he dropped an armful of ingredients onto the counter.

_ "Yeah, I guess." _

"Well! I need to pull up a Christmas cookie recipe on my phone so I have to hang up for now."

_ "Alright bye!" _ Minhyuk chirped.  _ "I'll talk to you later -- definitely tell me how it goes." _

"I will, bye!"

Hyungwon hung up his phone and set it down onto the counter. Placing his hands on his hips, he stared confidently at all the ingredients he had laid out in front of him. He's watched Kihyun bake hundreds of times. And he could always pull up a YouTube tutorial on how to bake cookies. Surely, that would be useful.

  
  
  
  
  


When Hyunwoo came home from a long day's work, the last thing he was expecting was to walk into his home and smell burning. The last time this happened, Hyungwon had set a vase of flowers on fire trying to light candles on Hyunwoo's surprise birthday cake.

But when he entered their home, Hyungwon was not waiting for him with a surprise cake and burned flowers. Instead it was almost eerily calm inside the house. The only sounds that he heard were coming from the kitchen and nowhere else (which was also where he suspected the burning smells to be coming from.)

"Oh god," he muttered to himself as he took off his outer layers, "I hope Hyungwon didn't melt a spatula again... Babe?" he called out.

"I'm--" Hyungwon coughed loudly and then cleared his throat. "I'm in the kitchen!"

There was something about the small quiver in Hyungwon’s voice that worried Hyunwoo as he took off his shoes and walked cautiously over to their kitchen. “Is everything okay…?” he asked slowly. He entered the kitchen then, nearly stopping in his tracks at the sight in front of him. “Whoa,” he muttered.

The kitchen looked like it had been through a natural disaster. The sink was piled high with charred trays and the stove tops had been marred from scraping. The smell of what Hyunwoo recognized as tar was prominent in the air and there was flour and molasses all over the counter. It looked like a tornado had swept through and Hyungwon was standing in the middle of it all, leaning on the counter with a smile on his face that was surrounded by black smudges and remnants of flour dust. 

"Oh, hey--" Hyungwon stammered out. "Hey, babe. I didn't even hear you open the front door."

"Yeah..." Hyunwoo murmured, eyeing the mess around them. He noticed that Hyungwon had bits of dough sticking to his hands. "Uh, Hyungwon? Not that I don't love seeing you in an apron or anything but... what are you doing in the kitchen?”

Hyungwon smiled at him as if nothing was wrong and plainly said, “Baking you cookies! What else does it look like?”

Hyunwoo spotted the one plate of six dark brown cookies in the middle of the kitchen island. He wasn’t sure how a destroyed kitchen could only produce six seemingly innocent cookies, but he approached them with caution anyways. “What are these?”

“Gingerbread!” Hyungwon said. He blinked nervously as his smile began to fall from his cheeks. “That’s… that’s your favorite, right?”

“Yeah.” Hyunwoo nodded as he placed his hands on the counter. “What brought this on though?”

“What?” Hyungwon smiled innocently. “I can’t do something nice and festive for my wonderful boyfriend?”

Hyunwoo tilted his head. “Well, that’s not what I meant. I mean more like, why did you decide to bake?”

Hyungwon just looked at him blankly. “I thought we could have some cookies while decorating the tree today.”

“There’s six cookies on here, Hyungwon.”

“...Yes,” Hyungwon said slowly. But then he blinked up at Hyunwoo and excitedly said, “I could,  _ um, o _ nly get six out of the five batches.”

_ “Five  _ batches-?!”

“It’s a long story,” Hyungwon interrupted. “But they’re gingerbread! You’re favorite, right?”

Hyunwoo nodded unsurely as he stared at the cookies. “It’s just you don’t usually bake or anything.” He froze in his thoughts momentarily before raising an eyebrow at Hyungwon. “You didn’t… you didn’t, like, destroy any more of our cookware, did you?”

“What?” Hyungwon said with a loud laugh, standing up straight. “No, of course not! We might be missing a glove that I set on fire but--” he coughed as he picked up the plate of cookies. “Anyways, I made these for you so… try one?”

If reluctance was showing in Hyunwoo’s eyes, he did his best to conceal it as he picked up a dark, circle from the plate Hyungwon was offering to him. He tapped it on the edge of the plate, almost immediately regretting doing so when he saw Hyungwon’s eyes start to dim at the hard sound it made. 

Hyunwoo cleared his throat as he brought the cookie to his mouth. He realized while biting into it that he probably should have brushed better as a kid because biting into this cookie hurt. The insides were kind of soft though.

He blinked and hummed. “Not bad,” he said, nodding. “It’s kind of tough around the edges but--”

Hyungwon cut him off with a defeated sigh. “They’re awful, aren’t they?”

“What?” Hyunwoo asked softly, surprised at how quickly Hyungwon deflated. He reached out to dust some sugar out of Hyungwon’s hair. “Babe, why would you think that?”

“You don’t like them, do you?” Hyungwon asked, his eyes dim with defeat. He tried to wipe a black smudge off of his face, only smearing it more. “I knew this was a bad idea, I can’t believe I tried it.”

Hyunwoo frowned, reaching over to swipe at the black smudges himself. “Hyungwon, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” Hyungwon sighed. He put the plate of cookies back onto the counter and sighed again. “I was trying to do something nice and I just ended up wrecking the place.” He grimaced as he stared around at the kitchen. “I’ll never be that boyfriend that’s great in the kitchen.”

Hyunwoo blinked confusedly. The cookie wasn’t all  _ that  _ bad yet Hyungwon’s eyes were large and misty with disappointment. “Hyungwon, what do you--”

“I’ll go shower.” He stared down at the floor as he moved past Hyunwoo softly. “And then I’ll clean up the mess I made.”

“Babe,” Hyunwoo called out as Hyungwon moped away sadly into their bedroom. Hyunwoo looked down at the cookie in his hand and tossed it back onto the plate. Then whipping out his phone, he pulled Hoseok up in his contacts and created a new message.

_ Remind me to never bring Hyungwon over again when Kihyun is baking. _

  
  
  
  
  


When Hyunwoo heard the shower turn off and he was sure Hyungwon was dressed, he knocked on the door of their bedroom gently. “Hello?” he asked softly. It was quiet and Hyunwoo knocked again. “Baby, can I come in?”

After another moment, Hyungwon’s voice sounded softly from the other side. “...Yeah. You can come in.”

Hyunwoo opened the door and poked his head in. “Hey… I brought a surprise.” 

Hyungwon sat on their bed, towel drying his hair mechanically as he wiggled his toes. “Hi,” he said quietly. He looked up at Hyunwoo and made a face at the plate of cookies in Hyunwoo’s hands. “God, I don’t even want to look at those.”

“These?” Hyunwoo asked with a soft smile. He sat down next to Hyungwon. “Why not? Cookies are a great snack to have when talking.”

“We need to talk?” Hyungwon murmured, his hands falling to his sides.

“Yes, we need to talk.” Hyunwoo reached for Hyungwon’s hand and laced it into his own. “Babe, I know why you were baking.”

Hyungwon looked up with large, scandalized eyes. “You do?”

“It’s Kihyun, right?” Hyunwoo asked with a raise of his eyebrow. He held back a chuckle at how Hyungwon seemed to jump at his name. “It’s because of when we went over and Kihyun was baking. And you felt like you weren’t as good of a boyfriend as him.” He pulled the towel off of Hyungwon’s damp hair gently and stroked his cheek. “Am I right?” 

“...Sort of,” Hyungwon muttered. 

Hyunwoo leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Baby, you don’t need to worry about baking me cookies. I mean, yeah, Kihyun’s cookies are always perfect but that’s because he bakes a lot!” He picked up another rock hard cookie from the plate and bit into it unceremoniously. “And yours aren’t bad that either, you shouldn’t beat yourself up about it--”

“It’s not that,” Hyungwon interrupted. He furrowed his eyebrows and took the cookie out of Hyunwoo’s hands. “And you really don’t need to eat these, babe, even to make me feel better. Because even I know that they’re shit.”

“Babe, they’re not--”

“I wanted to bake you cookies,” Hyungwon said, “because I-- well, when you tried those gingerbread cookies Kihyun made your eyes lit up in this… in this  _ way  _ that I’ve never seen them light up before,” he admitted sheepishly. He stared down at his hands and sighed. “And I wanted to see them light up again. Except, I wanted them to light up because of _ me.” _

The admission made Hyunwoo quiet. 

“Sorry,” Hyungwon apologized again, “that’s so silly of me.” He chuckled lightheartedly as he stared at the cookie in his hands. “I destroyed the kitchen over something that’s really dumb. And I don’t know I… Kihyun always tells me how happy his cookies make Hoseok. And that Hoseok always brags about Kihyun and his cookies to his friends and… I don’t know. I wanted to be that for  _ you.”  _

“What?” Hyunwoo muttered softly.

“I know, I know. It’s such a stupid thing. I’m never going to be a perfect boyfriend that can bake cookies, or-or a boyfriend you can brag about to your friends, or--”

“Hold on,” Hyunwoo interrupted. “Hyungwon, you’re going to stop right there.”

Hyungwon looked up from his lap and to Hyunwoo and to his surprise, there were  _ sparkles  _ in Hyunwoo’s eyes. His eyes glittered that same way snow did when it was freshly fallen or the same way stars did on a clear winter night. It was the same sparkles from when he bit into Kihyun’s gingerbread cookies and Hyungwon felt something in his chest bloom warmly. “...Hyunwoo?” he murmured softly.

His boyfriend’s gaze was warm as he reached up to run his hand through his hair. “Hyungwon. Baby. Hear me out for a second.”

“...Yes?”

“I definitely _ do not  _ date you for your baking skills,” Hyunwoo chuckled, holding up one of Hyungwon’s disaster cookies to demonstrate. “Because let’s face it -- you’re a terrible baker.”

“Wow, you’re so encouraging.”

Hyunwoo let out a loud laugh as he pushed Hyungwon playfully. “And it’s true, Kihyun’s cookies are a thousand times better than yours.” Hyungwon seemed to begin to deflate again when Hyunwoo wrapped an arm around him. “But babe -- you don’t need to bake me cookies to be a boyfriend I want to brag about. I want to brag about you all the time.” 

Hyungwon looked up, a look of near disbelief on his face. “Really?” he asked unsurely.

_ “Yes,”  _ Hyunwoo insisted. “I don’t date you for your baking skills. If I cared about that, we would’ve broken up long ago.”

“I know you’re trying to comfort me, but this feels like a pretty shitty attempt.”

“Okay, okay,  _ sorry,” _ Hyunwoo chuckled. “My point is, babe, that I love you for lots of different reasons. Alright, so you can’t bake -- so what? That’s not why I date you. I date you because I love you for who you are. Your entire two-hours-late-because-you-were-getting-ready ass.” 

Hyungwon let out a snicker at that, lightly punching Hyunwoo’s arm before slowly leaning into his embrace and nestling his cheek again Hyunwoo’s neck. “I still kind of feel bad I can’t make your eyes sparkle the way they do when you eat Kihyun’s cookies.”

Hyunwoo let out a light scoff. “Baby, you think my eyes light up because they’re good cookies? Because, yes, they’re great cookies but they make me feel that way because they remind me of you.”

“Me?” Hyungwon asked softly as he sat up to look Hyunwoo in the eyes. “They remind you of me?”

“Yeah.” Hyunwoo nodded like it was obvious. “Gingerbread is spicy and warm just like you--”

“Oh my god, Hyunwoo, please--”

“And it reminds me of last year when we went to see your family for Christmas,” Hyunwoo added. “You woke up every morning smelling like gingerbread and I wanted to kiss you every single time I woke up to you.” Hyungwon blushed at the statement and Hyunwoo only took it as incentive to continue speaking. “And I don’t know why you think you need to bake in order for me to brag about you. I want to brag about everything you do to everyone I know almost all the time. I know I complain about you getting ready, but whenever you walk into rooms looking like a million bucks, it takes so much self control not to rub it all over Hoseok’s face.”

Hyungwon snickered lightheartedly. “You want to brag about me to  _ Hoseok? _ I’ve known Hoseok longer than I’ve known you.”

“Yeah, which I why I don’t because it’s kind of weird hearing your friend’s boyfriend brag about him. So don’t worry about it too much, baby. If you think my eyes light up when I eat gingerbread cookies, you should’ve seen the look in my eyes when you walked into Hoseok’s home.”

With the edges of his lips quirking up to smile, Hyungwon whispered out, “Really?”

_ “Really,”  _ Hyunwoo said softly. He leaned over to leave a kiss on Hyungwon’s forehead softly. “I know you don’t think you’ve ever seen my eyes light up, but you would be so wrong if you could just see the way I look at you when you aren’t looking. So many people don’t believe me when I tell them I date the most beautiful, caring, perfect boyfriend. But you’re very much real and very much mine.” He left a noisy kiss on Hyungwon’s neck and delighted in the way Hyungwon giggled.

Hyungwon laughed as he eyed his cookies again. He let out a sigh, but nothing about it sounded disappointed. “These really are awful cookies, aren’t they?” he asked.

Hyunwoo nodded. “Yeah, they’re pretty bad. But still edible.”

Hyungwon shook his head and said, “Nope. No way am I going to let you try to eat these rocks again -- you’ll be shitting them out a week later.”

“Tell you what,” Hyunwoo said with a grin, “we can use them as decorations for our tree. Hm? What do you say?”

“Sounds like a great plan if you ask me,” Hyungwon whispered. With a large grin, he leaned over to press his lips softly to Hyunwoo’s and his heart soared when he pulled away and found that sparkle still in Hyunwoo’s eyes.

He supposed Kihyun was right to an extent about the stomach being the quickest way to a man’s heart. The difference was that Hyungwon could make Hyunwoo’s stomach feel warm without fresh cookies because he felt the same way. His stomach always did flips and heated up whenever Hyunwoo kissed him or looked at him and if Hyunwon’s instincts were right, then he made Hyunwoo feel the same way. So maybe Hoseok’s stomach was warm with Kihyun’s baking, but Hyunwoo’s stomach was definitely warm also but with something else that only Hyungwon could provide. And he wouldn’t want this any other way.

“Oh,” Hyunwoo spoke suddenly, a thought filling his mind. “Just between you and me, I prefer the fact that you can’t bake.”

“Really?” Hyungwon asked incredulously. “I mean I know you just had a whole speech about how it didn’t matter but wouldn’t you like homemade cookies from time to time?”

“From time to time,  _ yes,”  _ Hyunwoo agreed with an amused chuckle. “And that’s what occasional visits to Kihyun are for. Don’t tell him I told you this, but Hoseok has to do so many extra reps at the gym because of how many cookies he eats now. When you live with Kihyun, every day is a cheat day.”

Hyungwon let out a loud laugh at that and kissed Hyunwoo on the cheek. “I guess it  _ is  _ better that I can’t bake.”

Yeah. He wouldn’t want this any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> did u know i love showhyung ; v ; bc i love showhyung. so much.  
> also this thing is entirely too long as in it was supposed to be 2k or something but here we are at like 6k sighs  
> what can i say; story of my life
> 
> anyways i hope you enjoyed!! it's officially holiday season so there's going to be more holiday fics hohohoho  
> find me on twitter @_pokiwon! <3


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